Wire stretcher



Dec. 30. 1924. 1,521,209

I J. WARNER WIRE STRETCHER -Filed May 17, 1923 woewcoz Patented Dec. 139, i924.

JOSEPH R. WARNER, OF THO'MASTON, CONNECTICUT.

WIRE STRETCHER.

Application filed May 17, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosnrH R. l/Vnnnnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Thomaston, county of Litchfield, and

State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Stretchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to. wire stretchers, and more particularly to a device for pulling barbed wire taut preparatory to securing said wire to a fence post or other support.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved form of wire stretcher which may be used for stretching long lines of wire, and which may be attached to said lines at any desired point.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple, cheap to manufacture, easy to manipulate, and very elhcient and durable in use.

lVith these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawings one form in which the invention 25 may be conveniently embodied in practice.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a wire stretcher embodying the invention, as it appears when attached at one end to a wire being stretched and at its other end to a fixed wire.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the wire stretcher shown on a scale considerably larger than that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the device shown on the same scale as Fig. 2.

The present invention is an improvement upon the invention disclosed in the patent to George Perry. granted May 4-, 1886, No. 341,273.

In the use of the wire stretchers made in accordance with the above-mentionedpatent, it was'found in practice that the wire was likely to be injured by the clamps. Moreover, the ends of the wire which were disposed within the frame of the device were liable to cut the cable wound upon. the drum. The wire ends were also liable to engage the teeth of the ratchet and interfere with the proper operation of the device.

By means of the present invention, the above and other disadvantages have been avoided. This has been accomplished by employing an improved form of wire clamp and locating the rear clamp at a distance from the frame, instead of constructing it as a part of said frame, as in the patented de vice. By means of the present construction,

Serial No. 639,476.

the wire ends cannot possibly injure the cable, drum or ratchet.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 comprises a rectangular shaped metal frame closed at both ends and having a shaft 11 journaled transversely in its side sections 12 and 13. The front end 14- of the frame 10 is depressed below the plane of the remainder of the frame, and has a pair of enlarged eyes 15 formed therein to receive both strands of a cable 16. By means of this construction, the cable 16 will lie in a plane tangent to the lower surface of a drum 16, upon which the cable is adapted to be wound and the cable cannot bind on the edge of the frame, as would otherwise be the case.

The drum 16 is loosely mounted on the shaft 11 and has a central ratchet 17 rigidly secured thereto, said ratchet and drum being capable of rotating freely in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, but being held against counter clockwise rotation by a locking pawl 18 engaging in the teeth of the ratchet 17. The pawl 18 is pivoted upon a pair of lugs 19 at the rear end 20 of the rectangular f ame 10, and said pawl has an inclined rear edge 22 adapted to be engaged by a leaf spring 21. The leaf spring 21 is riveted at 23 to a forward extension 28 of said rear end 20 in front of the lugs 19, the free end of said spring being adapted to press upwardly upon the inclined rear edge 22 of the pawl 18. Normally, the spring 21 will hold the pawl 18 against the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17, but if desired, the pawl 18 may be swung baclnvardly away from the ratchet through an angle of 90 degrees as viewed in Fig. 3. In this position, the pawl will be held in disengaged position by the spring 21.

The operating handle of the wire stretchercomprises a bifurcated operating arm 24 having a hand-grip port-ion and a pair of parallel side legs 26, said legs being loosely pivoted on the drum sl aft 11 outside of the frame 10. The bifurcated arm 2% has a spring-pressed ratchet-operating pawl lever 27 pivoted thereto upon a pair of upstanding cars 28. The lower end of said pawl lever is provided with a sharpened point 29 adapted to engage in the teeth of the ratchet 17, while the upper portion of the pawl lever has a finger piece 30 continually pressed outwardly by a spiral con1- llu are:

vend link 36 of a front chain consisting of links 36 and 37.

In order to clamp the ends of the wire to the stretcher, each of the chains just described has connected to its outer end linkand 37 respectivelya wire clamping member consisting of a pair of cooperating jaws-38, 'llhe jaws38 and 39am pivoted together upon pins a0 and are provided with a tiertured inner lingers i1 and 4:2 loosely fitted on links 35and 37 of said chains. The lower jaw38 of each clamp is provided with a serrated cam surface 43 adapted tor-engage with the smooth cam surface I. of thenpper jaw 39 when the chains are put under tension. It :will be evident from this. construction that the greater the tension in the cable 16, the tighter-will the clamping jaws'grip the ends of the wire being stretched.

Fig. 1 illustrates the method of employing the invention for putting up a fence wire. In operatiomit will be assumed that the top wire of ,a fence has been already installed,asishown, andthat it is desired to fasten a secondwire in position. .The: end

45 of the second wire will then be nailed to the end postiet6, and the free end 47 will be'engaged by the jaws 38 and 39 of the rear. clamp. The front end of the wire stretcher will then be clamped tothe top wire 49 of the fence by means of the front clamp,as shown. By rocking the operating arm 24 back .and forth, the cable 16 may be intermittentlywound up upon the drum until the second wi-re has been tightened to the desired tension. The free end. ofsaid second -wi re will thenbe secured in position upon the post 50 by means of a nail 51.

While the invention has been herein illustrated as applied to the installation of fence wire, it will be understood that lllnllltty also be employed for- ;many other purposes, including the repair of wires already in position. The invention may also be employed for holding leaning posts up straight until they can be tamped.

While the present wire stretcher is especially adapted for use in stretching barbed wire, it may also be employed by linemen for stretching insulated or bare wire for electrical purposes, owing to the fact thatthe clamping jaws cannot injure the wires being clamped.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but :may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. .Iiishort; the invention includes all the modifications and. embodiments coming within the scope of'the following claims.

Having thus fully described the. invention, what is claimed: as new, and for which itiswlesired to secure 1 Letters-Patent, is:

1.,In a wire stretcher, :a rectangular frame having. one end depressed from the remainder of said frame, said depressed end having a pair of enlarged cord-guiding eyes a. winding drum pivotally mounted :in

.said frame,;a ratchet wheel secured tosaid drum, an operating arm pivoted on said frame upon the same axis-as said drum, said operating arm having. a pawl lever adapted to intermittently engage the teeth of said ratchet wheel, a spring-pressed pawl pivotally secured tosaid frame and adapted to also engage the ratchet teeth, a winding cordsecured to said drum, said cordv passing through said enlarged eyes, a chainsecured to said cord, a similar chain secured to theother end of said frame, the outer link of each chain havinga wire-clamping device secured thereto. 3

2. In .a wirestretcher, a frame, a drum pivotally mounted in said fra1ne, a'cable secured to said drum and adapted to be =wound thereon, means connected} to said cable for detachably gripping a wire, .means connected to the opposite end of said frame for detachably. gripping a wire, and means for intermittently. rotating said drum in one direction to draw the cable-operated wiregripping means inwardly, the cable end of said frame being depressed and having cable-guiding apertures through which the cablemay pass in a plane tangent. to the drum without binding on the edge of said frame.v I r .lnhtestimony whereof, Ihave aflixed m signature .tothis s ecification.

- JO E-PH R. WVARNER. 

